Zostera

Sea cereal

In Aponiente’s Gastronomic Research Laboratory, Zostera marina has been cultivated and its most coveted product, the sea cereal, has been obtained in a controlled manner for the first time in history. This milestone has never been achieved before.

The new superfood

The ‘sea cereal’ or ‘rice of the sea’, as some call it, can not only be used for human consumption, but its unique nutritional properties make it a new superfood.

In 2017, this pioneering project began in the world, which also contributes to the recovery of this endangered and native species, as it is helping to generate greater marine biodiversity, enriching the marine environment to combat the consequences of climate change.

The ‘sea grain’ is a higher plant, an angiosperm that grows in the sea; this aquatic grass or marine phanerogam is called Zostera marina.

Life on our planet arose 4.6 billion years ago in a primordial sea, so that all the species that develop today in the terrestrial environment had a marine origin. Numerous species colonised the terrestrial environment, such as terrestrial plants or Embryophyta, and developed flowers and fruits. It is known that, 100 million years ago, a group of these embryophytes, the marine phanerogams, made their way back to the ocean, adapting to living submerged.